Education Creating Hope: A Story of Two Sisters

This weeks readings were centered on education, our first reading by Jeff Duncan-Andrade, “Note to Educators: Hope Required When Growing Roses in Concrete,” and excerpts from “Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope” by bell hooks. 

Though I have never considered myself an educator, these readings have really opened my eyes to what being an “educator” means and the power that one holds in this form. I have come to discover that we are all educators in some way or another, whether it be to a sibling or a cousin to a coworker, there are many opportunities for “education.” 

I have only one sibling, a younger sister, who I am very close with. We have been close all of our lives, mostly because of our parents divorce during our youth. We knew that one another were going to be the only ones who truly understood what the other was going though. Such as how life was at moms house, to life at dads house, to life at our grandparents house. We knew that the only way to maintain hope about getting through our parents divorce was to stick together. 

The lesson of sticking together to maintain hope is one that Duncan-Andrade and bell hooks have reaffirmed for me, but on a much broader scale. When Duncan-Andrade stated, “… audacious hope demands that we reconnect to the collective by struggling alongside one another, sharing in the victories and the pain” this really resonated with me but I was not sure why. Through reflection and discussion with my sister over spring break I have come to understand that we maintained our friendship and sisterhood to maintain hope. By applying a broader definition of educator, where it is not a simple top down relationship, but a cycle, I came to understand that my sister and I were educators for each other. She would teach me how to not stress about moving back and forth from home to home and I taught her how to divide fractions. We were able to balance one another and form a relationship that both of us cherish everyday. Perhaps we would have fought and not become as close if it weren't for our parents divorce. 

Trying times open up opportunities for connection and community that can give personal and societal hope about dismal situations. Education is a powerful form to create this bonds, and by brooding the definition of an “educator” there is more opportunity for these bonds, and thus hope, to be formed. When applying this lesson to climate change as a “trying time” the possibilities are endless.